It is very important to assemble optical fiber connectors easily and quickly in the field of installations of optical cables for wide-spread optical communication. As an example of a conventional technology, we can quote the invention appearing in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-8613.
In that invention, a short-length optical fiber is fixed in a ferrule, and the end surface of the ferrule is polished, previously in the manufacture. An optical fiber to be spliced is mechanically spliced to the one in the ferrule, and then assembling can be easily completed. In the simplified, field-assembly optical connector, polishing is unnecessary in the terminating procedure, and assembling of an optical fiber can be completed easily within a short time, even in a narrow space into which carrying a polishing machine is difficult.
On the above-mentioned ferrule for the optical fiber connector, however, the following disadvantages have been pointed out. For high and stable performance of the optical fiber connector, the optical fiber to be spliced is fixed to the inner surface of the ferrule, and light-curing adhesive is used for this purpose. It is troublesome to handle the adhesive material, and a high-power light source becomes necessary at the spot of work for hardening the adhesive.